Work Radar, a platform connecting individual tradespeople, micro-businesses and social enterprises with leading contractors, has been launched to support tradespeople and ‘build, build, build’
Work Radar has been developed by Local Supply Chain, a cloud-based supply chain platform, which is already used by thousands of organisations, including Work Radar founding partner Morgan Sindall Construction. The service will help thousands of construction workers find local work and supports the government’s plan to progress shovel-ready projects in response to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Work Radar’s aim is to contain the details of projects around the country being undertaken by large contractors, which will specify what services and trades are required on their schemes.
Tradespeople, social enterprises and micro-businesses (firms with less than ten employees and a turnover of less than £1.5m annually) will receive alerts to opportunities in their area.
The platform helps address some of the most pressing issues in construction such as the skills shortage and will support the reduction of unemployment through healthy supply chains.
The platform’s ability to connect workers with local projects in an efficient and timely manner will enable the reduction of carbon emissions and will also improve the diversity of supply chains by creating a level playing field for all those seeking work
Work Radar is funded by subscriptions from contractors and is free-to-use for all organisations registering interest in finding work.
Creating sustainable procurement practices
Richard Ratcliffe, CEO of Local Supply Chain, said: “We’re very proud to launch Work Radar, a high quality, an innovative tool that will allow contractors to develop increased efficiencies in their procurement processes in a manner which will enhance their ability to support social value outputs within their wider operations.
“For microbusinesses, social enterprises and SMEs, it offers a streamlined way to register interest in work opportunities on their doorstep.
“Through increased access to social enterprises through Work Radar, construction firms can ensure that their procurement processes are benefitting the communities in which they work – both through engaging with social enterprises that support the needs of local people, and by developing ties with local workers that will help create sustainable procurement practices in the long term.”
Gavin Jamieson, head of Supply Chain for Morgan Sindall Construction, said: “At Morgan Sindall Construction, we are committed to increasing the diversity of our supply chain and helping communities improve their resilience in these challenging times.
“As a founding partner of the Work Radar scheme, we see it as a refreshing and engaging way of helping tradespeople gain work on projects local to them. Many of these tradespeople have been disadvantaged by recent events, and we are now deploying Work Radar across our projects to help them to gain employment.
“I’d like to encourage my colleagues across the built environment to join us on Work Radar. These are uncertain times for us all, and its incumbent upon us to work together to ensure not just a sustainable future for construction industry itself, but to improve outcomes across the economy and society – we believe Work Radar is an effective tool to help do just that.”
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